Smoked Leather
Note Profile
About
Smoked leather is a leather accord pushed to its burnt end. It leans on birch tar rather than styrax. It smells of tarry, phenolic smoke over a dry tanned-hide body. Nothing comes from an animal. A perfumer builds it.
Scent Profile
Smoked Leather is a burnt leather. The smoke sits above the hide, not beside it. It smells of birch tar: charred wood, tar and a phenolic, medicinal edge, dry rather than harsh. Under it sits a dry tanned-hide body. The burnt wood stays present under the smoke.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
ScentArt
Origin
Leather has no natural extract. Perfumers rebuild its smell from materials. Birch tar carries the smoke. It is made by heating birch wood to 600 to 800 °C and collecting a dark, smoky tar, which is then rectified. Russia leather was soaked in birch oil after tanning, which is why birch tar reads as leather. Styrax, castoreum and isobutyl quinoline are the older leather tools. Castoreum is no longer used. Safraleine, a synthetic, gives a warm, spicy leather.
Usage in Perfumery
Perfumers use a smoked leather accord when a leather needs a burnt, tarry edge. Birch tar goes in at a very low dose. It also serves in animalic, oud and chypre accords. The note is rare in named perfume pyramids.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Smoked Leather
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Smoked Leather appears prominently.
No perfumes featuring this note have been reviewed yet. Check back soon.